25 Damn Good Reasons To Go To Therapy

You’ve probably wondered whether or not you should try out
this whole therapy thing.

But you may have stopped yourself because therapy seems like
something for other people, not you. But here’s the thing:
There are a million ways therapy can help just about anyone.

Important: Therapists won’t tell you exactly what to do or
give you advice (shocking — I know). But what they can do is
help you work through certain roadblocks and give you the
tools and understanding to help you decide what to do. So, to
highlight all the ways therapy can make your life better,
BuzzFeed Health talked to clinical psychologist
Andrea Bonior, Ph.D., and clinical psychologist Ryan
Howes, Ph.D. Here are just some of the many reasons to
hit up a therapist.

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3. You’re
miserable at your job.

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You can learn to deal with shitty coworkers and bosses, get
communication skills to help you ask for that promotion you
deserve, strike a good work-life balance, and arguably most
importantly, figure out why you’re so miserable there in the
first place.

“A lot of people are in jobs they hate because they don’t
know what it is they really want to do,” says Howes. “That’s
what we can help with. What’s your bigger purpose? What are
you really about? Once we figure that out, you can orient
yourself toward and in your career rather than doing things
that are unnecessary to what you really want.”

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17. You
want to know if something you do is normal.

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According to Bonior, lot of people can really be bothered by
questions of, “Am I the only one who does this? Am I the only
one who feels this way? Is this weird?”

“Sometimes just getting that off your chest and talking to a
therapist can help de-stigmatize it,” says Bonior. “Usually
I’m able to say, ‘No. That’s fine. In fact, I’ve heard of
this a lot before.’”

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18. You
want to improve your relationships and be a better partner.

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“When you’re in therapy, you’re working with someone who is
like a relationship expert,” says Howes. “You get practice
bringing up the hard topics, sharing of emotions, having
conflict and resolving it, making connections.”

Not to mention, the more you know about yourself and your
habits, the better partner you are, says Howes. Being
self-aware of how you react to certain situations — like
being able to say, “OK, I’m the person who needs to have a
plan” or “I know I tend to feel irrational jealousy about
these things” — minimizes dozens of arguments in
relationships and leads to better communication.

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21. You’ve
been using a substance or behavior as a crutch.

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Maybe alcohol, drugs, gambling, shopping, eating,something, has started to play a bigger role in your
life than you want it to. “If it’s enough that you’re raising
the question of if something is a problem, then maybe that’s
enough of a sign you should go and talk to someone about it,”
says Howes.